Airline operator SAS's second-quarter report was weaker than expected and a negative price reaction is justified, DNB believes, with a hold recommendation for the SAS share, in a quick comment.
”"The result was weaker than expected and the guidance was changed," DNB points out.
The quarterly profit before tax for the months of February to April was -1,216 million SEK, compared with an average estimate of -805 million according to Infront Data's analyst survey with three respondents.
The second quarter was negatively affected by the pilot strike at the end of April by SEK 430 million, according to SAS. DNB had estimated SEK 440 million. The SEK 220 million that will come during the current financial quarter was also more than DNB's expectation of SEK 160 million.
Due to, among other things, the costs of the pilot strike, SAS now predicts that it will be "challenging" to achieve a positive result before tax and items affecting comparability during the current financial year, 2018/2019, which ends in October.
Before the report, the average estimate pointed to such a result of around SEK 1 billion.
”"We expect market expectations for the current year's profit before tax to move down closer to zero as a result of the weaker-than-expected quarterly result combined with the weak guidance," writes DNB.
SAS shares lost around 5 percent on Tuesday morning.
Source: News Agency Direkt
